


Tell Me You Love Me

by Akiko_Natsuko



Series: Gratsu [18]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Angst, Arguing, Character Death, Death, Declarations Of Love, Established Relationship, Forgiveness, Loss, Love, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-08-17 07:24:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16511852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiko_Natsuko/pseuds/Akiko_Natsuko
Summary: They had argued just before the final battle, and with Gray's angry words and distance weighing on his mind, Natsu was almost ready to welcome death. However, he doesn't want that to be his final memory of their relationship.





	Tell Me You Love Me

_Stay away from me…_

   Those were the last words that Gray had said to him before the final battle, and they hadn’t been spoken out of a desire to protect as they had been several times in the past, but out of hurt and anger. Out of a desire to hurt. Natsu had expected it, after all how else was the Ice mage supposed to react to the fact that his boyfriend was the very demon that he had sworn to destroy. _No_ , _it was just that._ It was also the fact that Natsu had known the truth for a few days, ever since his previous fight with Zeref but had been unable to say anything. He had been scared, no he had been terrified that the Ice mage would hate him, that his mate would realise that Natsu as well as Zeref was responsible for all the pain he had experienced over the years. Terrified that Gray might go ahead and complete his promise to his father before Natsu had a chance to become E.N.D. It would have been easy after all, because the Dragon-slayer would never have raised a hand to defend himself, because that would have meant hurting Gray.

   But he had hurt him, maybe not physically but emotionally, shattering in a single instance the trust that they had built up over the years. In trying to protect Gray from the truth, he had only hurt him more, and in retrospect he realised that it would have been easier if it had been purely physical actions. As it was the only blow that had been traded during the argument had been when the Ice mage had lashed out, catching Natsu hard on the cheek and threatening to send him crashing to the floor and in all honesty, he wasn’t sure which of them had been more surprised. However, that hadn’t been the worst or most painful part of it. No, what had really torn him apart had been the hurt in the dark eyes as Gray demanded to know why he hadn’t told him, why he hadn’t trusted him enough to tell him what was going on when he first found out. He hadn’t had an answer. Oh, he had admitted that he was scared and that he didn’t want Gray to choose. But they both knew that wasn’t a proper answer, just as they both knew that Gray was incapable of truly hating Natsu, or of hurting the Fire mage who over the years had gone from rival to friend to lover…to fiancé.

   Former fiancé now he supposed even though Gray had yet to demand the ring back, although he suspected that was only a matter of time now. The proposal had come seemingly out of the blue when they’d first learned that they were about to be plunged into war, although when Gray had explained that he didn’t want to wait and risk it being too late, Natsu had understood. It hadn’t been overly romantic, neither of them was the mushy sort, but the moment when the Ice mage had gone down on one knee would be forever etched on his memory. Although, now he supposed the memory was little more a memorial to what he had lost, than the celebration of what they’d had or what they’d been.

   In the end Gray had shoved him away, tears glistening in his eyes as he ordered the Dragon-slayer to stay away from him and not just in terms of their relationship, but in the battle as well, arguing that how could he fight alongside someone who obviously didn’t trust him? Natsu hadn’t been able to find the words to stop him, to argue that he did trust him. That there was no one apart from maybe Happy that he trusted more, and instead he’d watched in silence, tears of his own streaking down his cheeks as Gray had stormed out without looking back at him.

   That had been the day before, and every time their paths had crossed since then it had been as though he didn’t exist. The Ice mage wouldn’t even so much as look at him. It hadn’t helped the rest of their friends had been just as unhappy with him for keeping secrets, although thankfully they weren’t completely ignoring him as well. He had no idea what he would have done if they had. Still their interactions were stilted, and he found himself spending most of his time during the planning sessions sitting silently with Happy. He barely paid any mind to the plans they were formulating, the hopes they were still clinging to, because even before he had told Gray the truth he had known how this had to go. How it had to end, he’d just been hoping that when that time came he would have had Gray beside him.

**

   Natsu had gone into the final battle expecting to die, he knew that was how it had to end, and a small part had even hoped that it would, the Ice mage’s angry words a constant echo in the back of his mind. The future he had envisioned and hoped for, snatched away by those four simple words.

    Therefore, he stunned when instead he had found himself drifting back to awareness amongst the devastation his fight with Zeref had unleashed on Magnolia. His body was heavy and unresponsive, feeling as though it didn’t belong to him as everything felt numb, and distantly he knew that was a bad sign because he could remember taking some serious hits during the sight. But if he was injured he couldn’t feel it beneath the dull ache that had awoken in his chest when he realised that he was alone. He couldn’t move his head, but from what little he could see through his blurry eyes there wasn’t a person to be seen and the world around him was quiet, seemingly taken a deep breath after the chaos and Gray’s words echoed once more in the silence.

    They hurt, more than they’d done before, and he squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that the shadows would take him under again. Instead he found himself laying there in a strange grey haze, not quite awake, but unable to fully slip into the unconsciousness he sought.

“Natsu! Natsu!” Someone was calling to him, the sound seeming to come from miles away and sluggishly he blinked his eyes open, staring dully up at the sky. _Huh that’s strange, it almost sounds like Gray._ It was hard to make out the voice shouting his name through the haze, but for a moment his heart leapt hopefully in his chest before he shook his head, blinking back sudden tears as he tried to quell the feeling. _Idiot…it won’t be him…it won’t be…_ He squeezed his eyes shut again, desperate to block out the world, hiding from the fact that he was along…that his mate wasn’t there. _“_ Natsu!” The voice was louder now, and the Dragon-slayer jolted violently as he felt cold hands on his shoulder and then his cheek, his heart twisting with the thought that if this was an illusion it was a cruel one. Yet he found himself unable to resist the urge to open his eyes, a task that was much harder than it had been a few moments before, and his breath caught in his throat as he found himself staring into a pair of dark eyes that he would recognise anywhere.

“Gray…”

“Natsu,” Gray looked like he was about to weep with relief when the Fire mage spoke, although Natsu wasn’t sure he could trust his eyes at the moment as the world kept slipping in and out of focus. But the cold hand was still resting against his cheek, and he used the sensation to ground himself, even as he distantly noted that the Ice mage didn’t feel as cold as he normally did.

“Why?” Natsu blinked wearily, finding it ridiculously difficult to force the words he needed out and he took a deep breath, only to whimper as this time he became aware of a deep burning pain as he did so. Gray’s fingers curled against his cheek, dark eyes flickering with something that looked like fear, his mouth falling open, but Natsu continued before the Ice mage could say anything, needing the answer more than he needed anything else at the moment. “Why…you…here?” Okay, that hadn’t come out right, his tongue feeling strangely wooden in his mouth, but he knew that Gray had got the gist of it as his blurry face darkened for a moment.

“Natsu…” He’d never heard the Ice mage sound so broken, and he was taken by surprise as he was abruptly gathered into Gray’s arms and pulled into a tight hug. It hurt. Yhe movement and the press of Gray’s body against his sent a horrible sick fire through his body, and he had to bite his lip hard enough to draw blood to stop himself from making a sound. However, when he became aware of the quiet words being whispered in his ear, he focused on them rather than the pain and his vision blurred with tears, as pain of a different sort blossomed in his chest. “I’m so sorry…I’m so sorry, Natsu…” _He’s apologising? Why?_

“Gr... ay…” His mouth wasn’t working right anymore, and he frowned in confusion, instead focusing on lifting his hand so that he could brush his fingers against one of the arms encircling him. The arms that were the only reason he was still partially upright he realised with a sinking feeling. The numbness from earlier was well and truly gone now and he hurt and even as he felt Gray stilling behind him, he finally let his gaze drift down his body. _Oh_ …All he could see was red, not the pretty red of Erza’s hair, but a frightening red and he knew, even as his vision blurred worse than ever that he wasn’t getting out of this.

“Don’t say that!” Gray’s voice was ragged and urgent against his ear now, and it took him a moment to get his sluggish thoughts in order, realising that he must’ve spoken aloud and with difficulty he tilted his head so that he could peer up at the Ice mage. It was difficult to focus, and when he had, he wished that he hadn’t because Gray was a mess, tears trickling down his cheeks and his face twisted into an expression of grief the likes of which Natsu had never seen before. Weakly he tightened his grip on Gray’s arm, trying to comfort him, even as those horrible words echoed in his mind and he found himself closing his eyes in an attempt to drive them away, he didn’t want that to be his last memory of Gray…of them. “Natsu? Natsu?!”

   The panic in the Ice mage’s voice made him force his eyes open once more, although he couldn’t seem to coax them past half mast.

“It’s…okay.”

“No,” Gray was shaking his head now, pulling the Dragon-slayer closer as though that would stave off the inevitable, seemingly uncaring of the blood that was soaking into his own clothes now. “You’re going to be fine…you’re going to be fine,” he whispered, chanting the words with a desperation that broke Natsu’s heart. And as Gray buried his head against Natsu as a sob shook him the Dragon-slayer’s expression softened, any anger he had felt towards the Ice mage dissipating as he felt the silent sobs against his neck.

“Gray…” He murmured, but there was a hint of urgency in his voice now as his vision turned black for a moment, the pain beginning to disappear now, and he felt fresh tears trickling down his cheeks as he felt time beginning to trickle between his fingers. _Not yet. Please, just a little longer._ Thankfully the Ice mage had heard the urgency, pulling back and peering down at him with red-rimmed eyes, and Natsu blinked heavily as he struggled to bring the other’s face back into focus. Needing to see him, to see the emotion in his face. “Tell me…” He trailed off, struggling to breathe and get the words out and he sank back against Gray who tensed in alarm.

“Natsu?”

“Tell me…you love me…” It probably wasn’t fair to ask. The issues between them weren’t resolved, and they probably never would now. But he needed to hear them, needed to replace those cursed words still echoing in his mind before it was too late. “Please…”

   Cold hands reached up to cup his face, tilting it upwards so they were looking at each other and he stared blearily into dark eyes, feeling cold breath ghosting over his lips.

“I love you.” There was no hesitation, no doubt whatsoever in the words and Natsu’s eyes widened, fresh tears falling as the Ice mage leant forward and tenderly captured his lips. It was a brief kiss and then the Ice mage pulled away, lingering so that their breath mingled as he repeated the words with more than a hint of desperation. “I love you…I love you…I love you…” Natsu’s lips curled up in a warm smile, remembering happier times of hearing those words…they had been shouted, whispered…accompanied by tears and laughter…and his eyes drifted shut, it was those three words that echoed in his mind, and they followed him all the way down into the darkness.

_Thank you Gray. I love you too…_


End file.
